Community Calendar

Artist Julia Wang, a fourth-generation disciple of the Lingnan School, reveals the historical significance of this influential movement in Chinese ink painting, tracing its roots to ancient times. During this ArtBreak, Wang will focus on the work of artists who attained preeminence in various styles, highlighting the wide-reaching influence of the Lingnan School on modern Chinese art of the 20th century.

In both her painting and her teaching, Julia Wang bridges the traditional and the modern with an openness that engages diverse forms of Western and Asian art. Proficient in both classical Chinese painting and Western oil painting, she teaches audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

Ready to try your hand at Chinese ink painting? Return to the KIA on September 18 for a workshop led by Wang!

All hybrid events will be livestreamed to our YouTube page and can be found under the “Live” tab. Recordings of select past events are available on YouTube as well.
Preregistration is encouraged.

Women’s Wilderness Retreat
Saturday, August 30, 8:30 am – 7 pm

We’ll begin with a gentle yoga session. Throughout the day, enjoy a guided foraging walk, engaging art projects, practical women’s safety tips for the trails, flower arranging, mindfulness practices, and Zentangle drawing. End the day with free time or sound bathing before gathering for a relaxing dinner with wine. All meals and activities are included in fee.

Schedule:
8:30 am: Arrival at KNC’s Stryker Nature Preserve
8:45 am: Morning yoga session
9:30 am: Breakfast
10:15 am: Barn quilt square painting -or- Zentangle drawing and mindfulness
Noon: Lunch
1:30 pm: Foraging Hike
3:15 pm: Women’s trail safety
4:15 pm: Sound bathing
5:30 pm: Dinner & reflection

Fee: $175/Member, $200/Non-Member. Registration required. Audience: Adults Meet: Carver House, KNC’s Stryker Nature Preserve

Please join us the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM (barring special events or bad weather which will be announced on our Facebook page), for "Beginning Birding Walks," led by experienced birders from the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo. This event is free and open to the public. Meet at the second parking lot at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, just off SR 43. All skill levels are welcome.

We will enjoy nature while typically identifying 20-40 species of birds, plus butterflies, frogs, etc. Over 200 bird species have been sighted at Wolf Lake, which offers a variety of habitats and easy walking trails. Annual highlights include colorful songbirds like orioles, warblers, tanagers, hawks and eagles, kingfishers, Great Blue and Green Herons, and over 20 species of waterfowl. Eastern Bluebirds can be found year-round! Children accompanying adults are welcome. The focus is on birding fundamentals, and extra binoculars are always available. The walk typically takes about 2 hours (but feel free to arrive late or leave early).

Explore how a variety of apps and digital tools can be used to help artists working in traditional media. Artist Kris Walker will lead a discussion of the ways in which technology can assist the contemporary artist, from creating references to organizing artwork catalogs. We’ll discuss a wide range of methods by which artists can use digital tools to enhance the creative process, explore new ideas, and streamline some of the “work” involved in creating art.

Kris Walker is a photographer, illustrator, and designer with over thirty years of experience producing a wide range of creative projects for clients across the country. He also has taught design at Southwestern Michigan College and currently teaches Photoshop and other software in the Kirk Newman Art School’s Photography Department.

All hybrid events will be livestreamed to our YouTube page and can be found under the “Live” tab. Recordings of select past events are available on YouTube as well.
Preregistration is encouraged.

Join us for an exploration of clay during our free September Community Day. Stop by the Meader Fine Arts Library for an easy drop-in art project. You can also take part in building and decorating a community pot that will be fired in the KIA’s anagama wood kiln.

If you would like to deepen your exploration of clay, sign up for a kurinuki cup workshop and carve your own cup using this traditional Japanese technique—no clay experience needed!

Please note that this event will not be livestreamed or posted on YouTube.

Inspired by the Ink Rhapsody exhibition and want to try your hand at Chinese ink painting? Join us for a workshop led by local artist Julia Wang, a fourth-generation disciple of the Lingnan School! Create your own ink painting while learning more about this expressive art form and the many different ways in which influential Chinese artists have used ink to convey meaning throughout history. This workshop is free to attend, but seats are limited – preregistration is highly encouraged! No prior experience is necessary, and all supplies will be provided.

Want to learn more about Chinese ink painting? Don’t miss Wang’s ArtBreak on the Lingnan School on August 27!

Art and engineering come together to create adorable artsy robots! Drop by the library to make your own creation, then switch on the motor and watch the magic happen! Robots swirl and dance around, creating colorful patterns. Be inspired by the amazing patterns and colors in the exhibition Leo Villareal: Interstellar! Please note that supplies will be provided, but motors and battery packs will be available only to the first 15 participants.

Please note that this event will not be livestreamed or posted on YouTube.

Claude Debussy, a friend of Monet, wanted to be a painter. Instead, he used music to create evocative, beautiful pictures. His contemporary Maurice Ravel turned the miraculous seascapes of Impressionist painters into sparkling piano pieces. In Vienna, Arnold Schoenberg, also a serious painter, wrote music that pushed traditional boundaries to their limit. In his opera Wozzeck, Alban Berg created a character that embodies Expressionism. Intimately connected to the cultural currents around them, these groundbreaking composers turned Impressionism and Expressionism into sound. During this ArtBreak, explore these key movements in visual art and music with Dr. Zaide Pixley.

Zaide Pixley holds a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Michigan. As a member of the faculty at Kalamazoo College, she taught a wide range of courses, from music theory and history to rock and roll. She is President of the Board of Trustees of the Gilmore Piano Festival and the author (with Jane Rooks Ross) of 100 Years of Great Music, celebrating the centenary of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Pixley is deeply interested in how music reflects, responds to, and shapes its cultural and social context, as well as in the beauty and power of the music itself.

All hybrid events will be livestreamed to our YouTube page and can be found under the “Live” tab. Recordings of select past events are available on YouTube as well.

Please join us the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM (barring special events or bad weather which will be announced on our Facebook page), for "Beginning Birding Walks," led by experienced birders from the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo. This event is free and open to the public. Meet at the second parking lot at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, just off SR 43. All skill levels are welcome.

We will enjoy nature while typically identifying 20-40 species of birds, plus butterflies, frogs, etc. Over 200 bird species have been sighted at Wolf Lake, which offers a variety of habitats and easy walking trails. Annual highlights include colorful songbirds like orioles, warblers, tanagers, hawks and eagles, kingfishers, Great Blue and Green Herons, and over 20 species of waterfowl. Eastern Bluebirds can be found year-round! Children accompanying adults are welcome. The focus is on birding fundamentals, and extra binoculars are always available. The walk typically takes about 2 hours (but feel free to arrive late or leave early).

Discover the beauty and expression of Chinese ink painting! Start the evening by exploring Ink Rhapsody: The Art of the Lingnan Masters in Hong Kong and get inspired by the dynamic brushwork. Then bring your ideas to life with a fun, hands-on art activity. Ink painting will be offered for ages 8 and older. This workshop is open to the first 20 participants and runs from 6:30 to 8 pm. A drop-in hand fan activity will be available for all ages to enjoy from 6 to 8pm.

Please note that this event will not be livestreamed or posted on YouTube.